Calculagraph
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Calculagraph was a timer type device used by toll operators to record time billing long distance calls to customers.
The Calculagraph was a device designed to record times and calculate the difference. It was first used in a New York City pool hall that charged patrons for the amount of time they played on a table. In 1894 the Calculagraph was marketed to the telephone companies of New York as a device to record and calculate the time of telephone calls. The Calculagraph was an instant success. The first telephone company to implement the device was AT&T. Eventually, the Calculagraph was being used coast-to-coast, and by 1939 it was marketed to other parts of the world. Thus, the concept of �paying for time� can be attributed to Henry Abbott, a concept that affects all of us when we gaze upon our long distance telephone bills.
Excerpted from an NAWCC Bulletin article which appeared in the February 2001 issue. The Henry Abbott Papers Beth Bisbano, Library Director
